The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project has posted on social media:
“On 8 July, #PBI accompanied community journalist Carlos Choc whilst he was covering proceedings at the Puerto Barrios Magistrates’ Court, where the interim hearing was held in the case against Leocadio Juracán, leader of the Altiplano Peasants’ Committee (CCDA), who was arbitrarily detained in August last year and released on alternative measures a few days later. He is currently facing trial for the alleged offence of aggravated trespass. At this hearing, the Public Prosecutor’s Office was due to present the evidence supporting the charge; however, the proceedings could not go ahead because the original case file was not available at the Mixed Appeals Chamber in the department of Izabal. The hearing was rescheduled for 8 September this year.”
Yesterday, CCDA Guatemala posted on social media: “One year on from the criminalisation of our comrade Leocadio Juracán, his spirit of resistance remains strong. Despite the setbacks, we continue to believe in the power of organisation, unity and the defence of our peoples and territories. We at the CCDA call on communities, young people, women, students and organisations to keep moving forward and building together. Leocadio is innocent! The greater the repression, the greater the organisation!”
Leocadio Juracán
Juracán is Kaqchikel Maya with a long history of activism.
On August 13, 2025, Prensa Comunitaria reported: “Leocadio Juracán Salome, leader of the Peasant Committee of the Altiplano (CCDA), was arrested this morning at La Aurora Airport when he was about to travel to South Africa for an international conference. According to information from his defense lawyers, the crimes for which Juracán was arrested are aggravated usurpation and provocation of forest fires.”
That article in Prensa Comunitaria further notes: “Juracán remains one of the representatives of the CCDA, an organization dedicated to the promotion of rural development of indigenous and peasant communities, which was founded in 1982, in the midst of the military dictatorships and came to light in 1989. Currently, the peasant organization accompanies indigenous communities and defenders of the territory in the face of eviction and criminalization issues in several departments of the country, including El Estor, Izabal and Alta Verapaz.”
In October 2024, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) posted an article titled Leocadio Juracán Salomé: A story union activists must care about. That article highlighted: “Leocadio Juracán Salomé is the agrarian reform coordinator and a driving force behind CUPE’s partner in Guatemala, the Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA), a social justice movement active in over 70 communities. They have seen progress in negotiations on land issues with the new minority government, though its scope of action is limited as the judicial system remains controlled by corrupt officials.”
Accompaniment
PBI-Canada coordinator Brent Patterson met with Choc in Guatemala City in May 2023 and then did a follow-up webinar with him on August 18, 2023.
PBI-Guatemala accompanies the Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA) of the Verapaces in the departments of Alta and Baja Verapaz, the municipality of El Estor in the department of Izabal and the Zona Reina in Quiché.
We continue to follow this.
